Forest Dwellers
by rippa rias
Summary: What happens when you're reunited with the one you thought you'd lost forever? (I suck at summaries sorry)


Just a simple little story I've been working on. If anyone likes it I might continue it. Its not based on any book/movie/show/etc. All characters are mine.

"Are we there yet?" Max droned, his head resting in the palm of his hand. Out his window was a beautiful view of a lake and trees surrounding the banks opposite. In the other window was nothing but trees. To the young boy, it seemed as if they'd been driving for ages.

"Yes, we're here." His mother motioned to the front windshield. "See?"

His father, Victor, parked just off to the side of the large clearing that stood between the water and the forest. "This really is a beautiful place. Joey wasn't kidding."

"Hey mama, what's that?" Max pointed to a spot roughly in the middle of the clearing where a nice little fire was burning. They could see something stuck in the fire. Beside the flames sat a wolf the size of a small pony. The wolf stared at them, its ears back and his fur standing on end. No one in the car moved.

"Maybe we should leave?" Thea suggested slowly, as if just speaking could cause the animal to attack.

Max looked out at the beach where something had caught his eye. "Look!" Again he pointed, but this time it was a man he was pointing to. A man had just gotten out of the lake. Victor and Thea both looked over just after he'd covered himself in what looked to be a pair of homemade shorts. He was tall and tanned a dark bronze. The man stopped close to the opposite tree line.

Thea slowly opened her car door with much objection from her husband. She moved out of the car slowly and left the door open, afraid that if she closed it the noise would scare the man away. A thought was nagging her, a thought that she prayed to all the gods above was true. When she stepped away from the car, she held up her hands to show they were empty. She was harmless. The man looked ready to bolt any second. She could practically see him vibrating with the tension. She moved until she was roughly parallel with the fire.

"What's your name?" She asked him. "My name is Thea."

The man stared at her, that vibrating energy straining to be released, until she told him what her name was. Instead of fighting to stay where he was, he was now thoroughly rooted to the spot. He stared at her with more than a little confusion. Studying her as if she were some new life form, he replied "Zain."

A smile spread on Thea's face. "Zain. Are you my Zain? I've looked everywhere for you. Both me and your father."

Zain glanced at the car, at the man sitting in the driver's seat. "Father?" His look of confusion never left.

Thea nodded. "Is it okay if they come over as well? None of us are going to hurt you."

He seriously pondered the question for a moment before nodding.

Thea walked back to the car and stuck her head in, she swore if she smiled any bigger her face would shatter. She had to work to calm her racing heart. "Vic, we found him. It's Zain, our Zain."

Victor sat dumbfounded for a moment, staring at her. It took him a moment to process her words. "Zain? Our son?"

Thea nodded. "Come on out, meet him. You too Max."

"Are you sure?" Victor asked, glancing over at Zain. "I mean…"

"It's okay. I already asked him. He won't run away. Please?" There was a near desperate tone in her voice now.

Victor hesitated for a moment longer. "Alright," he finally agreed. Him and Max got out of the car and closed their doors. Thea followed suit. Zain, however, nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of the car doors slamming. He nearly took off right then and there, but he forced himself not to and instead moved over to the fire to check on his food.

The meat was nearly done so he sat beside it and watched the trio walk toward him apprehensively. When they were within three feet of the fire, Dusk stood up, his hackles standing at alert. His ears rested flat against his head and a low, rumbling growl emanated from deep within his chest. The tree stopped walking immediately.

"Dusk." Zain said the name quietly but firmly as he rested a hand on the wolf's neck. The animal calmed quickly. He went to Zain's other side and laid down, still staring at the strangers but no longer growling. Zain motioned for them to sit around the fire.

He tested the meat again as they sat and found it to be done. He pulled the stakes away from the fire and stabbed them into the ground close to his back to cool. An awkward silence hung around them for a moment until Thea broke it.

"Zain, this is your father, Victor and your little brother Max. Max, do you remember the stories I told you about your big brother?"

The boy nodded, his eyes never leaving Zain.

"This is your big brother."

"No way. Those stories were true?!" He glanced quickly at his mother before looking back at Zain. "Did you really grow up in the forest? Do you get to go hunting all the time? Do you ever have to fight bears? And what about…"

Thea stopped his questions by putting a hand on his shoulder. "Max, that's enough, okay?"

Zain checked the meat once again, then removed the two pieces from the sticks they were on. He pulled out a knife from a little pouch that he had tied around his waist. The knife was quite simple: a sharpened rock with a strong stick tied to one end. Zain cut up the meat into four equal pieces and offered everyone a piece.

"What is it?" Max asked, staring at the piece in his hands carefully.

"Rabbit." He replied, already eating his piece.

"Oh." Thea smiled and began eating hers as well. She looked at the two beside her. "It's okay, really. Rabbit is actually pretty good."

Victor still looked a little hesitant, but Max decided to go for it and took a bite. His face lit up when he realized his mother was right and began to finish it. Victor tired a small piece when everyone else was nearly done. He thought it tasted a little stringy, but it wasn't too bad so he slowly set on finishing it. He didn't want it to go to waste.

"So, Zain, how long have you been here?" Thea asked after she swallowed her last bite.

"Since after you left. It took a couple moons to find it, but once I did I didn't want to leave." He tossed the last of his meat to Dusk, who happily finished it for him.

"Zain, we're going to camp here for the weekend. Will you join us? I'd love it if you would," Thea asked tentatively.

"I don't know. Maybe," he replied, standing up. "I'll leave you to set up."

Max jumped up. "Where're you going?"

Zain peered at him with one eye as he banked the fire. "Around, why?"

"Can I come?!" He practically yelled.

Zain stood up straight and stared at him. "The forest is dangerous. It's no place for a child."

"But you grew up in a forest! You _live_ in the forest! Why can't I come?"

Zain sighed, recognizing a losing battle when he saw it. "It's not my decision to make."

Max stared at his parents, eyes wide and pleading. "_Please?_"

Victor and Thea stood. "I don't know, Son… He's right…" Victor began.

"Honey, Zain can keep him safe, cant you Zain?" Thea interrupted. All three looked at him expectantly.

Zain nodded reluctantly.

"Why don't we let him go with him, we'll be able to set up faster and he'll get to look at the forest." She put her hands on Victor's arms. "What do you say?"

Victor hesitated for another moment. He glanced over at Zain again before finally agreeing. Max cheered loudly and gave both his parents a hug.

Zain closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. He couldn't believe he had just agreed to do this. "Alright, come on then." Max was practically skipping as they walked toward the forest.

"Boys!" Victor called. They turned to look at him. "Be careful, both of you."

"Mom! Mom! You won't believe what I got to see!" Max yelled as he ran into camp later that day. The sun was beginning to set and they'd already gotten stuff out for dinner.

Thea looked over and smiled. "What did you see?"

"Deer! I saw real live deer, and a bear! It was _so cool!_" He sat across from his parents, absolutely beaming. "I wanna go out again tomorrow! Can I, please?"

"I don't know honey." Thea glanced back at the forest. "Where's Zain?"

Max shrugged. "He stopped at the edge of the forest and told me to go ahead. He didn't follow. I think he went back in."

That morning, they all woke up to the smell of cooking. Victor got up first to go investigate. He stepped through the small opening of the tent and straightened. Zain was sitting beside the fire with four fish roasting on sticks.

Victor sat on the other side of the fire. There was a comfortable silence between them for a short moment where they both just stared at the fire crack and pop. "I didn't think you were going to come back today," Victor finally spoke up quietly.

Zain shrugged. "Neither did I, but here I am." He poked at the fire for a moment. "How did you guys find this place?"

"One of our friends camped here last year. They recommended it to us. We decided to give it a shot."

"Is it really that easy to find?" Zain's voice came quiet and almost forlorn.

"Easy?" Victor repeated, looking up at his son. Zain was focusing on the fire, his face unreadable. "Well… I guess a little. It's a long drive though. Not many would travel this far just to camp for a weekend."

Zain remained silent, still poking at the fire.

"What's the matter Zain?"

"I have to move to a new location." Again, he spoke quietly, almost too quietly to hear over the fire.

Victor felt a cold hand squeeze his heart. "Move? Why? We just found you. You can't leave now."

Zain finally looked up at him, a set look on his face. "I cannot let people discover that I'm living here. They'll force me into one of those… monsters and take me back to wherever it is you all come from." He shivered visibly at the thought.

Victor looked back at his car, then over to Zain. Before he could reply, however, Thea came out of the tent.

"Zain!" She smiled. "I'm glad you decided to come back." She took a seat beside Victor. "The fish smells amazing."

He poked the fish with his stick, then removed them from the fire. He handed one each to Victor and Thea, took one for himself, and set the other one aside. He then turned to a little pouch he'd brought with his and opened it up until it was laying flat, revealing a slew of berries that he'd picked that morning. He pushed them closer to his parents.

Thea turned to the tent. "Max! Breakfast is ready!"

Max half stumbled out of the tent, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "What'd ya make? Smells good."

"Zain made us some fish," Thea replied.

Max looked up. "Zain!" He rushed over to him and embraced him in a tight hug. "Can I go into the forest with you again today? Please!"

"Max!" Victor said sharply. "Sit down and eat. Save it for later, alright?"

Max plopped down beside Zain, who handed him the extra fish. "Where's you wolf friend?"

"Getting his own breakfast," Zain replied between bites.

"How'd you manage to get a wolf as a pet anyways Zain?" Thea asked.

"Found 'im." He replied. "There were three other pups with him and the mother was gone. He was the last one alive. I helped nurse him back to health. I had to make his food into practically a soup so that he could eat it."

As if summoned, Dusk padded into the clearing. He approached Zain with his ears and tail held low. Zain smiled and rubbed his ear. Dusk lay down on his open side.


End file.
